The day my wife caught me 'praying' for our neighbour's wife

My wife came back from the market early last Tuesday. I was in the sitting room with our neighbour's wife, Madam Grace. She had come to ask me to pray for her marriage because her husband has been acting strange. So I was holding her hand, eyes closed, praying in tongues softly.

My wife opens the door, sees me holding another woman's hand, and the bag of tomatoes just drops from her hand. The look she gave me. Chineke. She didn't say anything. She just went to the bedroom and locked the door. I finished praying, told Madam Grace to go in peace, and then went to knock on my bedroom door. My wife said through the door, 'So this is what you do when I go to market? You lay hands on women?' I tried to explain but she said 'Even Jesus did not hold the Samaritan woman's hand when he prayed for her.' I laughed. That made it worse.

She didn't talk to me for two days. I had to call her elder brother to come and vouch for me. The elder brother came, heard the story, looked at me and said 'My sister has a point o. Next time, pray from a distance.' Now I have a new rule in my ministry. I never hold hands with any female counsellee unless my wife is present. Our people say the person who has been burnt once knows how to avoid fire. I have been well burnt.